


some boys are sleeping alone

by sympathy_for_hordak (sparrow0)



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Comfort No Hurt, Drabble, Fluff, Sleeping arrangements, Soft Hordak (She-Ra), ambiguous timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21536767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrow0/pseuds/sympathy_for_hordak
Summary: Lord Hordak and Princess Entrapta improve each other's rest cycles.This is a silly riff off of a Discord conversation about sleeping arrangement headcanons.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 36
Kudos: 221





	some boys are sleeping alone

"What's that noise?" Hordak asked, walking into Entrapta's lab. 

"I finished setting up the air handlers!" Entrapta answered. "The systems aren't throttled by overheating anymore! Sorry about the noise, I can try to muffle it more or move elsewhere." 

"You will do neither. It is not unpleasant." Hordak looked at the racks of glowing, whirring machines. "There are risks to collecting so much of your compute power in a single place–why not scatter these across the Fright Zone?"

"Colocation is good!" Entrapta said, lifting herself up on her hair. "Systems are easier to maintain and wiring easier to run when they're all lined up together. Consensus is still hard, but it helps when your signals don't have to travel so far." She looked at him and added, "They're better off when they're closer together." 

With one clawed hand, Hordak gestured at the nearest blinking, rectangular thing. "What was this component built to do, then?" he asked. 

Entrapta peered at the label on it. "Oh, this box is currently a node in the bot targeting training system, but it wasn't built for that. It was built to function as a server, node, or shard on a variety of projects. It's far more efficient to build adaptable parts that do a good-enough job at lots of things than highly specialized equipment you only use for one task before decommissioning." 

"That's very practical," Hordak responded. He stood there, jaw tight, face tense. 

"You really don't mind the sound?" Entrapta asked. "It's okay, lots of people hate it." 

"Then they have poor taste," he answered immediately. 

Entrapta returned to the treatise she'd been reading. 

Hordak peered behind the rows of racks and found a small cot against one wall, piled with blankets and pillows. "Entrapta, have you been sleeping here? We have adequate space, I can allocate you whatever quarters you desire." 

"No thanks, that's okay. This is tiny and efficient! I used to nap in vents and stuff, but it's easier if Emily and the other bots can alert me quickly when there's a problem. Sensors aren't valuable unless it's possible to respond to the data they provide, and if they can't find me, the bots can't respond," Entrapta explained brightly. 

Hordak's mouth had opened. He closed it. 

"You are a princess. You do not prioritize the continuity of your rest cycles over the petty whining of your underlings?" 

"Um, no?" 

Hordak growled in frustration. 

Entrapta put her data pad aside again, her hair tendrils still. 

Hordak looked down. "I mean to say - before you joined us, all bot alerts went to the Force Captain on duty. You should authorize our forces to wake you for a true emergency, and return that protocol to its earlier state." 

"Being interrupted isn't a big deal for me," Entrapta countered. 

"Interruptions to your off-duty cycles are a violation of Horde policy. I insist that you redirect the alerts."

"Fine," Entrapta said, "but you haven't heard the last of this." 

~~~

While Hordak met with his Force Captains, Entrapta broke into his rest chamber. It was nearly empty, containing only a pod shaped of metal and reddish glass. 

The pod was more than long enough for her, but not tall enough to sit up with the lid shut, nor wide enough to stretch her tendrils. The glass was dark enough and the room dim enough that it felt like a coffin, or a trap. 

Entrapta climbed out, and began to plan a response to this new data. 

~~~

Lord Hordak said nothing about the soft purple pillow and purple blanket she stuffed in his pod.

"Do you prefer sleeping with this much light?" he asked in her lab, trying to be casual. 

"Eh," Entrapta mumbled. "Covering only the lights without blocking any ventilation would be boring, and there's so much to do!"

~~~

Entrapta returned to her lab that evening to find Hordak kneeling on the floor. His dress was dusty, and he was methodically going through her racks with black electrical tape. 

"What's this about?" Entrapta asked. 

"Vengeance," he said, ears low. "For your - actions in my chambers." 

"It's really precise, elegant vengeance. Thank you, Hordak," she said. 

~~~

The next night, there was a remote control lying on the floor outside Lord Hordak's pod, and a note. 

"Your pod has temperature/humidity/light controls now. Let me know if there's any glitches or any of these ranges need adjustments. –E"

His hands shook. 

~~~

Entrapta opened the brilliant cyan bag that had been left on her lab bench, and found an assortment of sparkly minis from one of the better-regarded cosmetics suppliers in Salineas.

She applied the iridescent crimson polish to her fingernails, and enjoyed Hordak's reaction to her hands the next morning. 

~~~

Hordak discovered a tiny stuffed bat, left on the arm of his throne.

~~~

Entrapta found a heavy parcel at the door to her lab, bound in blood-red ribbon. It contained the entire season's scientific journals from Mystacor, and the new full-color reprint of the Sturmvoraus-Heterodyne Treatise. 

~~~

Entrapta picked up the stuffed bat the next time she began compiling a module, and scritched behind its ears with her fingernails. 

She could see Hordak's brain short out in real time, and she considered this project a resounding success. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Death Cab for Cutie's ["Some Boys."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnEHBO0dUa8)
> 
> If you have an on-call rotation or are tied to an alerting system of any kind, Lord Hordak says **prioritize the continuity of your rest cycles** and he's right. 
> 
> "Sturmvoraus-Heterodyne Treatise" is a _Girl Genius_ reference.


End file.
